1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling device for an integrated circuit element, and more particularly to a cooling device for an integrated circuit element, which can efficiently cool the integrated circuit element by the use of a refrigerant such as water.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many integrated circuit elements such as LSIs generating a large quantity of heat have been used in the field of large-scale electronic computers, for example, in association with a great increase in operating speed and in processing capacity. The use of a refrigerant such as water is effective for efficient cooling of such integrated circuit elements, and it is desired to provide a cooling device for an integrated circuit element, which can efficiently cool the integrated circuit element with a high reliability by the use of the refrigerant.
A known cooling device applicable to an integrated circuit element mounted on a substrate includes a cold plate having an inside refrigerant passage through which a refrigerant passes and having one surface provided with a cooling element corresponding to the integrated circuit element. The cooling device is used in such a manner that a head portion of the cooling element is kept in close contact with the integrated circuit element. As a technique for detecting leakage of a refrigerant from the cooling device, it is known that a receptacle for receiving a leak of the refrigerant is located under the cooling device and that the refrigerant received by the receptacle is detected by a flow switch or the like.
In the prior art mentioned above, there is a long time difference between the time of generation of the refrigerant leakage and the time of detection of it, causing a possible influence upon the reliability of the integrated circuit element and other electronic parts.